How did one woman build a successful salon, hair extension brand, and hair loss business from the ground up - whilst raising kids?

In this episode of Tell Me About It, I sit down with Meghan Hayden, the founder behind Plushlocks and Skalp360.

Together, we talk about hairdressing, business growth, motherhood, burnout, hair extensions, female hair loss, and what it takes to keep evolving in the beauty industry.

Meghan also shares her journey from not loving school, starting out as a hairdressing apprentice in the “savage era,” moving from Ireland to Australia, and growing multiple businesses.

This conversation is for hairdressers, salon owners, beauty business owners, hair extension specialists, and anyone who wants to understand the real behind-the-scenes of building a business in the hair industry.

Tune in to hear about:

💜Meghan’s journey from apprentice hairdresser to salon owner
💜Moving from Ireland and the UK to Australia to build a new life
💜The reality of old-school hairdressing apprenticeships
💜Starting a hair extension wholesale business from home
💜Growing a salon team and learning how to manage money
💜The emotional reality of female hair loss
💜Why hairdressers need better education in advanced hair loss solutions
💜Balancing motherhood, business, maternity leave, and burnout

Key moments:

00:00:00 Intro
00:04:00 School misfits win
00:07:20 Earning your spot
00:10:23 Moving across the world
00:13:36 Living on nothing
00:17:11 Demoted after maternity
00:22:15 Testing every hair
00:25:40 Falling for numbers
00:28:42 Into hair loss
00:43:42 Hitting burnout

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👉Connect with Megah Hayden

https://www.instagram.com/meghan_plushlocks
https://plushlocks.com/

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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

The messy middle of business growth can feel like chaos, but it is often where your next level begins.

In this episode, we explore why female entrepreneurs outgrow old business models, relationships, routines, and identities - and how to stop shrinking yourself when you know you are meant for more.

If things feel uncomfortable, uncertain, or heavier than usual, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It may mean you are being pushed into a season of growth, clarity, and serious business transformation.

So if you are ready to stop apologising for wanting more, start listening to your intuition, and move through the messy middle with more confidence, this episode is for you.

Tune in to hear about:

✅Why everything can feel like it is falling apart right before a breakthrough
✅How to reframe chaos as renewal instead of failure
✅Why female business owners often feel guilty for wanting more
✅How to recognise when you have outgrown a business model, job, routine, or relationship
✅The truth about brutal honesty and how it helps you reach your next level
✅Why gratitude and ambition can exist at the same time
✅The simple way to trust the messy middle of personal growth and business growth

Key moments:

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:20 What Chaos Really Means
00:06:40 Relationship Shake-Up
00:11:00 Inner Whisper
00:15:20 Hating What You Built
00:18:40 The Era of Brutal Honesty
00:22:40 How Honesty Attracts Abundance
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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

After surviving chronic illness, leaving a 25-year marriage, losing her salon business, and coming out later in life - award-winning hairstylist Megan Evans completely rebuilt her life from the ground up.

In this episode of The Tell Me About It Podcast, Megan joins your host Cait Muir to talk about a huge range of topics, including:

identity, burnout, queer love, salon ownership, chronic illness, the future of hairdressing, and what it really takes to choose yourself.

Megan also shares powerful insights into salon culture, client experience, leadership, creativity, and why authentic connection matters more than ever in the beauty industry.

Tune in to discover:

✅ What it feels like to come out later in life after years in a traditional marriage
✅ The sneaky signs of burnout and chronic illness - and how it impacts your life
✅ What Megan believes the future of the hairdressing industry depends on (do you agree?)
✅ The unexpected way a FaceTime relationship turned into marriage during COVID
✅ What happened after Megan stepped away from the salon she built over 12 years
✅ How EMDR therapy can impact someone after years of stress and survival mode
✅ The industry that hairdressers are really in… this will surprise you

Key moments:

00:00 Intro
00:01:30 Long-awaited reunion
00:05:30 Nearly dying from Crohn's
00:09:20 The perfect day vision
00:12:30 Coming out at 40
00:16:00 Mum chose her ex
00:19:30 FaceTime love story
00:24:30 Letting the salon go
00:43:00 Facing real homophobia
00:49:30 Industry in crisis
01:14:20 Bring back rock stars

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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Connect With Megan Evans

https://www.instagram.com/meganevans_creative/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

You can journal about wealth, repeat money affirmations, and visualise millions… but if your money mindset and money habits don't change, you'll stay stuck.

This episode reveals how to ACTUALLY build a wealth mindset that works - and why most manifestation advice keeps you broke.

If you've ever avoided your bank account, felt suffocated by credit card debt, or wondered why manifesting money isn't working for you - you’ll hear exactly how to turn it around.

You'll also hear the messy, uncomfortable, but life-changing reality of going from financial chaos and drowning in debt to financial confidence, freedom, and rich woman energy.

Plus how combining money mindset + action + self-trust is what actually creates lasting wealth and abundance.

Tune in to discover:

✅ Why avoiding your finances is keeping you stuck in debt (and how to fix it today)
✅ The first step to getting out of debt fast… most people avoid this for years
✅ The truth about manifesting money and what manifestation actually involves
✅ How to rewire your relationship with money for real wealth creation
✅ Why "buying before you're ready" can level up your income and business
✅ The psychology behind paying in full vs payment plans
✅ How setting higher standards forces your life, income and lifestyle to rise

Key moments:

00:00 Intro
00:01:00 Manifestation Skeptics
00:03:20 The Debt Diagnosis Moment
00:06:40 Buy Before Ready
00:09:40 Pay In Full Energy
00:13:20 Living As If
00:15:00 The Business Class Standard
00:19:00 Clout vs Soul Spending
00:23:00 Reward Yourself Like Staff
00:24:40 Setting Non-Negotiable Standards
00:27:20 Manifesting Plus Action

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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

What happens when chronic illness, fertility struggles, and a hysterectomy force you to let go of the life you planned… and rebuild from scratch?

In this episode of the Tell Me About It podcast, your host Cait Muir sits down with Nikki Roberts - a former high-achiever turned chronic illness advocate.

Together they unpack her journey through endometriosis, multiple surgeries, hysterectomy, miscarriage, and navigating life with invisible disabilities.

You’ll hear stories ranging from medical gaslighting and traumatic healthcare experiences to the emotional toll of losing fertility and redefining success.

You’ll also hear how Nikki transitioned from a science-driven mindset to embracing holistic healing, nervous system regulation, and a more intuitive approach to health.

Tune in to discover

✅What it really feels like to live with chronic illness and invisible disability
✅The emotional impact of hysterectomy, menopause, and fertility struggles
✅Why so many women experience medical gaslighting… and how to actually advocate for yourself
✅The link between trauma, stress, and physical health (nervous system dysregulation)
✅Moving from perfectionism and burnout to acceptance and slower living
✅The gap between Western medicine and holistic healing approaches
✅Why women’s pain is often dismissed - and what needs to change
✅Using humor and storytelling as powerful coping tools

Key moments:

00:00 Intro
00:01:00 Meet Nikki Roberts
00:02:23 Janice the ovary
00:06:00 Two uteruses three kidneys
00:11:38 Pap smear horror story
00:19:30 Hysterectomy grief
00:32:14 Science meets woo-woo
00:36:30 BMI scale exposed
00:41:30 Palliative ward wake up
00:54:20 What RA actually is
00:58:30 Spinal surgery
01:04:00 Losing Erin
01:17:00 Mermaid energy
01:22:00 Redefining success

If you've ever been told your pain is “normal” or your dreams need to shrink to match your diagnosis - press play.

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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Connect With Nikki Roberts

https://www.instagram.com/mamas.rheum/
https://www.instagram.com/fullysick.life/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

If you’re constantly being asked to “just do a quick favour,” lowering your prices to keep clients happy, or feeling weird about charging what you’re actually worth… you NEED to hear this.

Right now, with tighter budgets and more competition, it’s easy to slip into undercharging, over-delivering, and giving away your expertise for free just to stay relevant.

But that pattern doesn’t build a sustainable business - instead, it builds resentment, burnout, and clients who don’t value what you do.

This episode is a direct, honest conversation about what’s really happening when you discount your work, why free advice isn’t as harmless as it seems, and how pricing impacts more than just your income.

Tune in to discover

✅Why discounting your services can quietly damage your business
✅The difference between being flexible vs. devaluing yourself
✅What people are really saying when they ask for “free advice”
✅How undercharging creates imbalance, resentment, and burnout
✅Why higher prices often lead to better clients and stronger results
✅The connection between money, energy, and sustainable business growth
✅What changes when you start treating your expertise like it actually matters

Key moments:

00:00 Intro
01:20 Why discounting without reason is a hill worth dying on
02:00 Meeting someone's budget vs. being bargained down
03:40 What your prices are really telling the universe
05:00 The "quick question" problem
06:40 What people are actually saying when they ask for free
08:40 The one-line script that redirects unpaid requests
09:00 The PT example: tiered support done right
10:40 Money as energy exchange
11:40 Why incomplete exchanges breed resentment
15:00 The $650 coaching call I was excited to pay
16:40 If premium prices trigger you, read this
19:00 Why higher prices create higher perceived value
20:40 Skin in the game: why paid clients actually do the work
21:40 What happened when I raised my prices 30%
22:40 Know your worth, then add tax

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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

What happens when your dream career doesn’t work out… and you’re forced to start over?

In this episode, I sit down with Gareth Philpott - entrepreneur, educator, and founder of multiple successful businesses (including The Hair Hair Academy Australia, The Barber Academy Australia, The Crispy Club, and & Barber Academy and The Educator Academy).

Together, we unpack his journey from aspiring professional athlete to building a multi-business empire in the hair, barbering, and education industry.

Throughout his journey, Gareth found himself navigating uncertainty, career pivots, and real-life pressure - eventually turning a simple skill into scalable businesses.

Tune in to discover:

✅How Gareth accidentally got into the hair industry (and built an empire from it)
✅The reality of building multiple businesses at once
✅Why “work smart not hard” isn’t always the answer
✅Lessons from managing hundreds of staff (and making tough decisions)
✅How he built connections with professional athletes & NRL players
✅Why subscription models (like Crispy Club) are the future of business

Key moments:

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:00 Meet Gareth Philpott
00:05:50 Soccer Dreams to Australia
00:11:00 Working at Body Science
00:17:00 The Hard Lessons of Education
00:21:00 Teaching NRL Players Barbering
00:29:00 Making 200 People Redundant at 24
00:41:00 The Origin of Crispy Club
00:49:00 Hustle Culture and Hard Work
00:54:00 The $400K Debt Discovery
01:06:40 How COVID Saved the Business
01:22:00 Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia
01:26:00 The Pricing Problem in Hair
01:43:50 Advice to His Younger Self

If you’re interested in entrepreneurship, business growth, barbering, hairdressing, or building a brand from scratch - this episode will give you real insights, practical lessons, and a behind-the-scenes look at what it truly takes to succeed.

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👉Connect With Gareth Philpott

https://www.instagram.com/garethphilpott/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-philpott-24343365/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au

If you’re a strong, successful woman who feels like men are threatened by your success… let’s break down the reality of alpha males vs real men AND masculine vs feminine energy.

This episode breaks down the truth about so-called “alpha males,” why insecure men sabotage powerful women, and what real masculinity actually looks like in a healthy relationship.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to shrink, dim your light, or carry the entire relationship just to keep the peace, you’ll find out why (and what to do about it).

Tune in to discover:

✅The real difference between “alpha males” and secure, masculine men
✅Why successful women trigger insecure men
✅How to balance masculine energy in business vs feminine energy in relationships
✅The truth about the male loneliness epidemic
✅Signs you’re in a toxic or emotionally abusive relationship
✅What a healthy, supportive partnership actually looks like
✅Why women are raising their standards… and NOT settling anymore

Key moments:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:00 Masculine Energy in Business
00:04:00 Feminine Energy at Home
00:07:20 Truth About “Alphas”
00:12:00 How Insecure Men Gaslight and Belittle
00:15:20 What Toxic Relationships Do to Your Body
00:17:40 What Real Partnership Looks Like
00:22:00 Women No Longer Need Men
00:23:20 The Male Loneliness Epidemic Explained
00:28:20 Stop Shrinking for Small Men
00:34:20 Be Unapologetically Picky

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👉Find out more about how we can work together:

https://iconiccoaching.com.au/coaching/

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👉Here’s how to connect:

https://www.instagram.com/tellmeaboutit__podcast
https://iconiccoaching.com.au